Spectres and Assassins
by P. Domi
Summary: Still suffering from post-head trauma injuries, recently inducted Spectre Ashley Williams tries to handle her new responsibilities as a Council agent & Alliance officer.The following events occur in the hours leading to the Cerberus coup, as well as in the ensuing chaos and violence. Williams & Thane face a race against time to avert the utter collapse of galactic government
1. Chapter 1 The Wounded Warrior

Mass Effect and all its characters are Bioware/EA's IP

This is the first chapter of story arc covering the Citadel coup from the point of view of those who witnessed it first-hand. Although Ashley Williams and Thane Krios are the most recognizable names in the story, you will find plenty of references to other characters from the Mass Effect universe.

The events depicted in the first two chapters occur in the hours leading to the Cerberus coup, while the following entries will capture the violence through the point fo view of well-known characters like Ashley Williams and Thane Krios, as well as new ones. It will offer an insight to the chaos caused by the Cerberus coup and Council assassination attempt. There are constant references to in-game information, texts and lore that will help the reader to identify the unraveling events to the part of the operation that Shepard did not see.

The conclusion will be consistent with the game depiction of the final confrontation, and will hopefully help to understand Williams' difficult position and hesitation as she faces an almost no-win scenario, where her Oath of Service to the Alliance and her sworn loyalty to the Council as a Spectre will clash in an unexpected way.

* * *

**SPECTRES AND ASSASSINS**

**CHAPTER 1: The Wounded Warrior**

_An old man bending I come among new faces,_

_Years looking backward resuming in answer to children,_

_Come tell us old man, as from young men and maidens that love me,_

_Arous'd and angry, I'd thought to beat the alarum, and urge relentless war,_

_But soon my fingers fail'd me, my face droop'd and I resign'd myself,_

_To sit by the wounded and soothe them, or silently watch the dead;_

_Years hence of these scenes, of these furious passions, these chances,_

_Of unsurpass'd heroes, was one side so brave? the other was equally brave;_

_Now be witness again, paint the mightiest armies of earth,_

_Of those armies so rapid so wondrous what saw you to tell us?_

_What stays with you latest and deepest? of curious panics,_

_Of hard-fought engagements or sieges tremendous what deepest remains?_

"The wound-dresser", by Walt Whitman (Published in 1865, _Drum-Taps_)

* * *

**-Ashley Williams, Huerta Memorial. The Citadel-**

_**Four hours before the Attack**_

"The enemy forces seem to fit the description of 'reapers', a term first used by a disgraced Commander Shepard during the war against the geth." stated a phlegmatic and unemotional Alliance reporter on all vid screens.

While walking down the hallways of Huerta Memorial, Ashley Williams still wondered how much longer the ANN news would keep sugarcoating the all-out war in which the galaxy was engulfed, and the true nature of the enemy, the 'real' enemy they were losing to. It had been nearly a month since she had been brought to the Citadel, completely unconscious with severe head trauma, she could not even remember leaving Mars or arriving in the Citadel. The bruising in her face, impossible to conceal with a thin layer of make-up, was the testimony that not everything had gone smoothly in that simple intel retrieval operation.

She had first found out that their mission in the red planet had been a partial success, according to the Alliance reports after she had regained consciousness. The reports she had accessed through proper channels lacked the classified details Dr. T'Soni had discovered while working for their government. Liara had presented a top secret project to the Council most people did not know anything about. Those who were in the know, referred to it as the "Crucible", but she did not have many details, besides the information their insertion squad received upon meeting with Liara in the Mars facility. Alliance "grunts" did not need to know about it, most Council races citizens didn't know anything about it either, it was easier to keep the project safe from indoctrinated agents, and Cerberus had also become a player in this conflict. It also meant she was not allowed to calm down her sisters by telling them there was a high-stakes plan already in motion, overseen by a great Alliance hero, Admiral Hackett and which some of the most brilliant scientists working on it. It was going to take a colossal effort to complete it in time if the reapers continued to expand so fast, work was around the clock.

Despite a certain sense of optimism, the weakening pain she felt, and the death toll after Cerberus' brutal attack on the Archives made that allegedly successful mission feel like anything but. She tried to put these thoughts aside as she pushed a button and the door to the doctor's office opened for her with a metallic hiss.

"Please, Lieutenant Commander Williams, come in." Dr. Chloe Michel walked her to a comfortable seat as she went for one of her regular check-ups. Just getting out of the claustrophobic hospital room ten days earlier did not mean she was fully healed. It had all hit her as a train wreck: waking up with painful and very limited mobility in her extremities, a terrible headache that seemed to have nested at the base of her neck... The only good memories of those days while she was almost climbing the walls, reading reports coming front the frontlines (none too good) and a few from Shepard's logs to Alliance command (feeling frustrated of not being on the Normandy), were the visits. Her sisters had come often, but the most important thing that seemed to keep her pushing hard for recovery was reminiscing of Shepard's passionate words to her, by her bedside. Right now, she felt useless and restless without an assault rifle, without enemies to shoot at or soldiers to lead.

Dr. Michel, whose family hailed from Geneva, Switzerland, was one of the most competent doctors in Huerta Memorial. She had clearly taken a special interest in her, since they had met when Ash, together with Shepard and Alenko had first visited the Citadel in 2183. She still remembered how they helped her out of a tough spot with the help of Garrus Vakarian. She was a young doctor, in her mid-thirties, with bright, silky red hair and beautiful light green eyes. She had a calm and soothing voice, the kind many wounded soldiers appreciated to hear, a sign that they were still alive and clinging to hope.

She was checking her vision, the pupils reaction to light, her reflexes, possible numbness or pain when extending and rotating Ashley's joints. Her approving nods as she moved on with the checks were reassuring. Then came the worst part... Williams grimaced and felt some pain, as the doctor pressed her vertebrae after removing the top of her uniform. She forced a neutral facial expression, trying to cheat through the medical. She felt than all servicemen worth of calling themselves marines would try to push through the pain just like she was trying to.

"You seem to be making a full recovery. And much faster than I thought when you were first brought in, Lt. Commander." Ashley heard the words, but she couldn't focus on the doctor completely, her mind kept going back to Shepard's words: "_Ash, it's always been you. When we didn't see eye to eye, I gave you as much time as I could, that's done now. I'm not doing this without you. I need you_". She remembered she almost broke out in tears, she felt like embracing Shepard right then and there, but she could barely move at the time. It had been the nicest thing Shepard had told her since their last night together, before the Collectors' attack. In hindsight, it would not have been a very professional reaction, but in a hospital as busy as Huerta, nobody would have paid attention.

His words had not been the only reason she wanted to get out of the hospital so badly, her personality traits just precluded her from feeling o.k. with just being idle in a mostly civilian station, while being pampered by doctors and nurses like she was a weak glass ballerina, she wanted to be where the action was. She had seen other Alliance soldiers who had not been so lucky and they were the ones who deserved their attention. Lieutenant Jorgensen, another tended wounded marine in the same hospital wing as she was, had needed surgery to have one of his legs amputated below the knee. Walking down the halls of Huerta Memorial was a terrible sight, even for the jaded eyes of a veteran soldier who had already seen so much death and destruction. There were coma-induced people ravaged by combat wounds. The worst was the crying of soldiers and civilians from all species. There were so many wounded turians and asari, not many flesh wounds when you were fighting the reapers. She couldn't take the proverbial "_Shepard told you so_" off her mind. All of them had families, loved ones, many had lost everything and everyone they had, she realized how lucky she had been so far. She really felt better preparations could have been made, if only... Meanwhile, Dr. Michel was still talking to her, and she did not have great news for the L.C. :

"Unfortunately, we should be conservative in regard to your return to action. I know you have been working out and sparring in our facilities under the supervision of our staff, but you aren't cleared for more intense exercise yet, I'd prefer if you took two more weeks, just to be sure your body is strong enough. I am still amazed your spine held those impacts_."_

These words brought Williams back to reality, she seemed to space out selectively. At times she just thought doctor Michel had already made her mind after a few minutes into these visit.

"Doc, are you sure? I feel fine, my target-shooting practice and psychomotor evaluations show that I am..."

"Lieutenant Commander,"- interrupted Dr. Michel, always with a polite and respectful tone "I am a civilian doctor, but I know the kind of combat scenarios you would be engaged in. I am seeing wounded and reading reports every day. It would be irresponsible for me to declare you completely for duty. I know you can fire an Avenger from cover as well as any other soldier, despite your status. But If I cleared you now and you were engaged in close quarters combat, you would not be at 100% and there is a high risk you would be overpowered by enemy units and some of the problems derived from your head trauma could return. That is why I would like you to be under observation for two more weeks, the war won't be won or lost in the next 14 days. And do not try to pull your Spectre status on me, others have already tried." Chloe let a friendly smile show up in her tired face. She only had Ash's health in mind.

Ashley knew the doctor was right, she was in no shape to fight a husk, a cannibal or a marauder in close quarters, and she was prone to early fatigue in her training sessions. She thought Alliance command had an interesting way of naming those reaper abominations, but the nicknames had stuck and everybody used them now. If she was weak on the battlefield, it could force other soldiers to take care of her instead of taking care of the enemy. In the middle of a perilous operation, that could put everybody in danger. In a hypothetical do or die deployment she could become a real liability for her colleagues, a distraction. In a position of command, it could mean the death of her squad.

"Alright doctor, I'll come back in two days. Meanwhile, I will be going back to the gym and get ready for the war." she knew Dr. Michel would be impervious to her protests and requests, she had to give her credit for putting up with her bad mood with so much patience and compassion. The doctor was seeing terrible things in the pavilions where extremely gravely injured patients were cared for; having to listen to another gung-ho soldier asking to be sent back to combat was probably something she could live without. She decided that complaining would have been selfish and not an the proper conduct of an officer.

Thankfully, she had another responsibility to focus on, one that did not require her leaving the Citadel but that was still confusing. Udina had asked her to accept the Spectre status that he and the Council seemed eager to offer. She didn't know how much it had been a real recognition of her value in the fight against Saren and saving the Citadel while serving under Commander Shepard, or recognition for the secretive missions she coordinated and she led as operations chief in those years after the destruction of the SR-1, or if it was a convenient maneuver by Udina, for some unknown motive. Shepard had been clear when she told him she had accepted: "_You are a fine soldier with an impressive record. You deserve this_", that had meant the world to her. She was struggling to cope with her feelings after two years where she had shut herself from any kind of romantic interest. She opened that door, after repressing that facet of her life for most of her career, but now she felt lost again.

Shepard's death and then the discovery that he was working with Cerberus had both made her regain her faith and crushed her spirit at the same time, all in a very conflicting fashion. She often regretted not being there for him, she could not just defect from the Alliance and join him on a Cerberus ship. He had almost said, with different words, that it was a journey from which he did not expect to come back alive. Those years, she had been doing her best from as a commissioned alliance officer, and she had kept a picture with Shepard, Alenko and Joker; the photo had been taken in the Normandy's mess hall a long time ago, it felt like centuries. She had prayed for Shepard almost every night since the demise of the SR-1, she could have never imagined her prayers would be answered the way they were.

As much as the Citadel was the self-proclaimed center of space civilization, everything was a mess at the moment. Her induction ceremony was everything but 'ceremonious', with barely a few witnesses and the three alien Councilors who just seemed eager to be done with the formalities to take care of their own species' problems. So much for the ' glamorous and beautiful superstar Spectre agent', as her sister Abby had nicknamed her.

She had gone through some basic Spectre security protocols and emergency procedures training, mostly through vids and the inspection of terminals and rapid transit elevators only accessible for high clearance security personnel. Most of the Spectres were on assignments outside the station; that made her chuckle: neither the Alliance nor her liaison in the Spectres, wanted or needed her out there yet. It was humbling, in a not so satisfactory fashion. She was still wearing her training wings on the chest of her tight-fitting blue vest, a reminder that she was not a fully fledged Spectre like Jondam Bau or Shepard. She felt out of her comfort zone, without the navy blue Alliance Armor of her unit or her good old Phoenix armor.

Even more troublesome was the unwarranted sense of security in the Citadel, the war was going to reach them sooner or later. Heck, the Citadel itself was a Reaper construction, so there was no doubt they would come here eventually. Ashley Williams decided it was the perfect time to go do what she could do best at this stage: get ready to fight the war, as soon as she was released from that depressing hospital. This was not a conflict that could be won by shooting the boogeyman in the face, but she was damn sure she would fight them from the trenches and not from a Citadel desk.

* * *

**Next chapter: Thane and the Huntress.**


	2. Chapter 2 Thane and the Huntress

**SPECTRES AND ASSASSINS**

**CHAPTER 2: Thane and the Huntress**

_Thanks in old age-thanks ere I go,_

_For health, the midday sun, the impalpable air-for life, mere life,_

_For precious ever-lingering memories,_

_of you my mother dear-you,_

_father-you, brothers, sisters, friends,_

_For all my days-not those of peace alone-the days of war the same,_

_For gentle words, caresses, gifts from foreign lands,_

_(...)_

_As soldier from an ended war return'd,_

_As traveler out of myriads,_

_to the long procession retrospective,_

_Thanks-joyful thanks! - a soldier's, traveler's thanks._

Simplified excerpt from "Thanks in Old Age", by Walt Whitman

* * *

**- Thane Krios -**

His favorite doctor had given him 3 months to live... about 11 months ago.

Despite a quite extended belief, a drell like Thane was not necessarily a very representative member of his species, most drells found outside Kahje were not. There was a misconception of this species' members as innately adventurous, entrepreneurial and tremendously martially skilled, this idea was motivated by the particular qualities that made some them extremely successful in different trades outside the hanar homeworld, and how the hanar trained many of their youngsters to become bodyguards or assassins. As such practices had become known to Council species, drells were usually respected and somewhat feared wherever they went, since it was impossible to determine what career path they had taken the first time you met one.

Thane was the epitome of the Hanar-trained assassin, which had led him to live a life of dangers, full of interesting challenges but also good enough to feed his family. His training had started at age 6, and had his first kill when he was 12. Any drell entering this lifestyle, by virtue of the 'Compact' agreement with the Hanar, also had to turn his back on enjoying the innocence of childhood, a real family life, or the tranquility of retirement. Non-active assassins who grew as old as he was, at least for drell standards, had often collected enough enemies along the way to quickly switch from being the hunters to becoming the prey. This also meant Thane Krios was never unarmed, and he would never be, not even in the Citadel. As he had told Shepard more than a year earlier, the average C-Sec controlled access port to the Citadel had a number of fatal flaws that a professional could exploit. His only reason to carry a concealed weapon was for protection. At this stage in his life, and out of respect for the promises he made to Kolyat, he intended not to take any more lives unless it was in self-defense.

He could not help to consider the irony of his death was more likely going to come from within his body, due to Kepral syndrome, than from a foe. He always thought he would die during one of his missions as a freelancer, which is the most common fate for people in his line of work.

Thane visited Huerta Memorial training and rehabilitation installations most days, not that 'day' and 'night' cycles mattered much in space, but his gut told him he would still have a role, maybe small, to play in this war. At this time, he wanted to spend the little time he had left with his son whenever he came to the station

But there was another reason, the promise he made a true friend, John Shepard, in one his last visits to the hospital: " As long as she is here, consider her under my protection" he had said in regards to his dark-haired female companion. Shepard had not expressed with words that she meant more than just what a valued friend or soldier under his responsibility would be worth, but a drell trained in certain skills from age 6 had caught a glimpse of something else in his facial expression. She meant something that far exceeded a professional camaraderie, typical of those soldiers who had fought shoulder to shoulder. He would have fulfilled his promise in any given scenario, but in cases like his son, friends and those who were held dearly by his friends deserved more. In his last months of life, he wanted his legacy to be more than one of death. He wanted to be remembered by Kolyat and others in a different light. He could not be the father he never was, there was no going back. He could only atone for what others perceived as crimes by becoming a protector.

The human female arrived at the usual time. She had her hair collected in a bun and wore an Alliance issue navy blue training outfit. Alliance Navy standard P.T. outfits did not have any markings identifying personnel as soldiers, NCO's or CO's, he had observed, but her confident demeanor in rehabilitation and gym training sessions was one of a person of a certain responsibility, who seemed to have a burden on her shoulders. Generally, Alliance personnel in civilian facilities like this one did not salute one another unless they actually recognized the other member as a superior officer, either because they had actually identified each other as officers or because they were wearing an actual uniform. Some servicemen saluted Williams at times, but it was only because they really knew who she was and probably felt it was the deserved respect she had earned somehow. Thane did not know Williams' complete service record, but Shepard used to surround himself with anything but common people. She had to be a formidable soldier and a capable leader.

For all his good intentions, Williams had noticed his attention with an edge of mistrust. She had recently been released from intensive care, it did not mean she had become oblivious to her surroundings, or that she had become naïve enough to ignore that they were at war. They had exchanged looks at times, she seemed to be weary of his interest. If she had recognized him as someone close to Shepard, she had never said or asked anything about that connection. There had been no real conversation between them except for a courteous "Hi", a "thanks" or simply a nod of her head. Not even when they had sparred together. Not even when he had held the bag for her or she had held a bag for him, which tended to occur on occasion, since the facilities were simple enough for civilians and military personnel to run into each other and ask for assistance when sharing the equipment and the training mats. This would change today, he had resolved.

Thane had become fond of humans. He had not had much real interaction with them until he met Shepard, Miranda, Jacob, Zaeed, Kasumi and the other people on board the Normandy SR-2. He had never disliked them, but he trusted very few people, regardless of their race, in his former business, as a precaution and life-insurance policy.

Drells generally did not have war vessels they ran independently from the hanar, so seeing how a Cerberus vessel had incorporated talented aliens in different capacities, such as a quarian engineer and a salarian chief scientist, felt just as unexpected as wise. These choices could be traced directly to the ship commanding officer's leadership and strong moral sense. Then again, it was not just any captain and he was not a real Cerberus agent, as he soon realized. Since it seemed this young woman was important for Shepard, and since she was getting closer to being released by the hospital, Krios decided he would talk to her today.

* * *

**-Ashley Williams -**

Ashley Williams had changed in Huerta Memorial facilities, she always kept a set of her clean Navy workout clothes in her locker. There was a secret she had never mentioned to the physicians, something she had never told anyone, not even Dr. Michel. She could barely sleep lately. Most nights, she had nightmares and it was very hard to go back to sleep after how vividly those dreams replayed her last memories of Mars. A strong, synthetic hand griping her head by the helmet breather mask. While that thing was holding her, she could feel its overpowering strength, as she struggled desperately to get loose, to no avail. She could see it, the ghastly Cerberus machine, mumbling a few words with her half-burned metallic lips and then it would smash her head against a solid surface. In her dreams, she would always feel going limp like a rag doll, her vision would go go completely dark... then she would wake up, sweating and breathing heavily, in her temporary living quarters. This problem seemed more psychological than physiological, which was not the area of expertise of Dr. Michel. She did not know whether someone would help her getting better quality sleeping time, but being up-front about another issue would definitely force her to stay in the Citadel longer.

Last night had been one of those, she tried to erase the memories from the vivid dream, she started with a soft warm-up jog on the treadmill. The treadmill had traditionally been a personal fitness staple to her training sessions, except for when she could run in the outside like in Macapá training camp. Alliance Navy standards required all NCO's and CO's to pass a strict physical aptitude test yearly. If the Alliance military as a whole had been 'progressive' in some aspect was in reducing the differences between the standards expected for female and male soldiers and officers. She was mostly held to the same standards as men, and she expected no less. Also, running had evolved in military training in the XXI and XXII centuries. She had read how many top tier military units and corps, expected their members to run 3 miles in 28 minutes or less more than a century earlier. Studying a little of military history, which was one of her passions, she had learned that military training evolved for the necessities of new war scenarios: crack military units would be deployed with heavy, mission-specific equipment in addition to their regular operational gear, sometimes in hostile territory, and expected to cover a technically short distance within a very short period of time. This had modified the scheduling and design of grueling running sessions and they had evolved to include more rushed marches for shorter distances with heavier payloads, including heavy combat armor. She remembered her legs going numb at the end of those intense drills and passing out in bed as soon as they got back to their base. Running 10-12 miles in comfortable sportswear was not going to cut it anymore for most late XXI and XXII century war deployments, particularly on planets which had very little in common with Earth.

Unfortunately, she had collapsed out of exhaustion the first time she had tried to complete the 3 mile run on the treadmill after her partial recovery, understandable since being a Williams pretty much guaranteed you would be a thick-headed, _gung-ho_ soldier . The long time she had to spend in intensive care, with a partial body shut down like the one she had experienced after having her head repeatedly smashed against the hull of a shuttle by that frightening Cerberus infiltration unit would necessarily take its toll. She overworked herself and she had collapsed, after the 2-mile mark. She had not felt this tired in a long time. Another Alliance serviceman, a turian and a drell had all come to help her, she had appreciated it. She had been silly not take her training and rehabilitation therapy more slowly, but she was eager to prove she was ready. She was not trying to impress anyone else, she only wanted to prove it to herself.

Ashley hadn't seen many drells before. Spending so many years as part of planetside garrisons did not expose her to too much interaction with non-humans, and was not the best way to get noticed for promotions or to be selected for better units. Even after an unexpected galaxy-wide traveling opportunity opened up to her, upon joining the Normandy crew in 2183, drells were rarely seen outside Kahje. They were rare even in the Citadel. Most days ever since she was allowed to resume light exercise in Huerta Memorial physical therapy and fitness center, the mysterious humanoid had been a regular. At times he used to just sit down, apparently lost in his thoughts. His black eyes, without pupils, did not allow you to determine whether he was looking at you or somewhere else, but Ashley had the impression he would sometimes look at her for extended periods of time. It was her gut feeling, she could not really know. Other times, he punched and kicked the bag with the speed and strength on impact of a true martial artist. Ashley had sometimes held the bag for him, and the hits were so powerful at times that she had to stand strong on her feet in order not to lose balance. To the stranger, it did not seem to be a great effort. Ashley suspected he was not a regular civilian, and many members of his species were hired as hitmen outside their world.

After the warm up, she headed to the mat to throw a few punches at the bag to blow off some steam. To her surprise, the drell immediately seemed to get out of his lethargic or meditative stance, stood up and walked to the mat at the same time she did.

Ashley had to admit he had picked her curiosity, and would be happy to talk to someone about all what was going through her head, the problem was that it was all either classified information or so extraordinary that nobody would believe her. The things she had seen in the last 3 years, first with Shepard and the Normandy crew, and then as Operations Chief directly under Anderson's command...

"I will hold the punching bag for you, Williams." Said Thane, with his soft and guttural voice tone. His drell voice had that special resonance that carried words with depth and wisdom. He used to address commander Shepard by his last name, and it seemed to have been an acceptable sign of respect for human customs. He decided he would use her last name in a similar fashion.

The Lieutenant commander was surprised he knew her last name, but tried not to show she had been caught off guard."_How did he know it_?" She cleaned the sweat from her forehead with a towel.

"Thank you... May I have your name, so you don't keep me at a disadvantage?"

"Thane, I am glad to have a chance to talk to you, Williams"

Williams threw a few warm-up punches at the bag, not even fully extending her arms.

"How do you know my name?" Ashley was not adopting a confrontational tone but she went on the defensive this time, she kept punching the bag, while keeping her sight on the alien. She did not feel totally comfortable with a perfectly stranger knowing her name and talking to her with such a familiar attitude, like he had known her for some time.

"I 'm sorry, I didn't try to startle you. I've been observing you. We have a friend in common, that is why I know your name."

There was a collected sincerity in his tone, he did not seem uncomfortable or awkward talking to a supposedly total stranger, who was starting to punch a gym bag with increasing intensity. She threw seven punches, one after another, she was starting to loosen up while becoming more and more intrigued by this person named Thane.

"I'm not sure who you are, but I'm having a bad day, not exactly in the mood for riddles."

"You speak the truth, I should have been more direct. For a time, I travelled with interesting companions, including Commander Shepard. Although I should say it was me who accompanied him in his mission, he asked for my help. This was before he turned himself in to Alliance authorities"

Ashley was caught by surprise, she stopped her training. Her cheeks were flushed from the effort, and her Alliance navy synthetic fiber shirt was getting uncomfortable under her accelerated heartbeat. This person seemed to have been in close contact with Shepard in that dark period of which most people did not seem to know anything about, there were all kinds of rumors. To her, finding Shepard alive but as the C.O. of a Cerberus vessel, in the company of some Cerberus operatives, had been an extremely painful discovery, especially psychologically. All of a sudden, this conversation made her feel vulnerable and exposed, she tried to hide her feelings as much as she could. She did not talk about her more than professional connection to Shepard to other people, almost never.

"You know... Shepard?" Her voice was a mix of polite disbelief and realization of what might have motivated the Thane's fixation with her. She could confirm her gut feeling, he had probably been observing her with those black, impenetrable eyes. "Is that why you have been watching me?"

"I would say I have been watching _over_ you, Williams. I hope I have not made you feel uncomfortable in any way, my intentions were always good."

"You are a drell, and I can see you have been well trained in hand-to hand combat. Although I wasn't afraid you meant any harm, I've to admit it made me feel a bit uneasy. Why haven't you told me you knew Shepard until now?"

"I made a promise I would look over you. But since you are an Alliance officer, I knew you wouldn't feel too happy if you learned someone was looking out for you when you were 'the weakest' version of yourself, Lieutenant Commander. I know you wouldn't have liked knowing Shepard asked me to, as humans say, 'babysit' you during recovery. But now, I need to talk to you".

Thane turned around a headed for quiet corner in the fitness center. They both sat down, about 2 or 3 meters away from each other. Ashley was slowly recovering her normal breathing rhythm, and even she looked calm in the outside, she did not trust this man yet. Despite his cool demeanor and soft voice, he seemed like a dangerous subject, she had witnessed his training ways and he was impressive in close-quarters combat.

"Williams, there is a reason I find myself at Huerta Memorial, spending all my days in the Citadel and I why I made that promise to Shepard.

"What is it?"

"I will be very honest. I am an assassin". Thane noticed Ashley frowning and her facial expression and physical stance clearly showed she was alert and ready for a possible confrontation. She was indeed a fast and intuitive soldier. "I have spent my life taking others', although I was never asked or accepted a contract to kill an innocent person. I'm not saying I had a special 'gift' to distinguish those who deserved to live and those who deserved to die, but when I became an independent contractor I tried to follow a personal code".

"Why are you telling me all this? I'm not just an Alliance soldier, I'm a Spectre. Whatever your assassination contracts were, for whomever your worked, those are serious crimes you're talking about, I could bring you in under the authority given to me by the Council." At this point, Ashley wished she had a gun handy, as a precaution. As a Spectre, many exceptions permitted her to carry weapons in areas where regular people and off-duty military personnel could not. But bringing a weapon to a rehabilitation and training facility was, in theory, absurd. She had to be on call as a Spectre, so the gun she carried was in her secure locker.

"This fact was known to me. But an assassin is a weapon, a weapon doesn't choose to kill, the one who wields it does. If you tried to apprehend me, I would not resist. I do not work for anyone anymore. Lieutenant Commander Williams... I'm telling you because I'm dying".

Ashley's expression changed, she was still on edge, a normal attitude when having a private conversation with a confessed professional hitman. She could not help but to feel some compassion for a dying man, who had no problem to admit who he was and face a potential arrest with a shocking inner peace. She also wondered why would he have joined Shepard and Cerberus in first place. Shepard had told her about the Collectors, and all the evidence they had gathered at the time pointed to Shepard being right about those mysterious disappearances of complete human colonies. Williams and Anderson had made sure Shepard's warnings reached Alliance High Command. James Vega data from Fehl Prime's lost colony emphasized the magnitude of this threat. The problem had always been that there were so many restrictions as to what they could do in the Terminus Systems... Even a small Alliance team like the one she took to Horizon to assess the locals on how to improve their defenses was regarded with suspicion and mistrust by the colonists, and the Alliance only committed to that operation because Horizon had actually requested the installation of several GARDIAN turrets in exchange for limited and secretive collaboration with a branch of the Alliance Special Operations division that would be assigned to this region of space.

"I'm sorry, Thane. I didn't know...I'm not planning to arrest you... I don't think I'm in any shape to fight a professional assassin right now, anyway..."

Thane chuckled. "You may have to fight your share in the near future, Shepard is going to need all the help he can get... My sickness, Kepral syndrome, it's something I have come to accept. I have had a full life, with many regrets, very few happy moments... I lost my wife to the very violence of this life I embraced when I was young, and the promise I made my son is the only 'contract' I wanted to fulfill before I leave this body. I am done with that life. I hope you don't sacrifice everything for your career."

Ashley had also lost people, and she missed her father the most until she lost Shepard as well. It had been torturous, to miss a man she had known for a relatively short period of time as much as she missed the man who had helped her to temper her character from childhood and grow into the woman she was... But the truth was she did. She had felt overwhelmed by the loss of most of the 212 on Eden Prime, a good group of soldiers she had cared about, then the loss of the Normandy. Even if most of the crew had succesfully escaped the ship on time, she had lost Shepard and like with the 212, she had often blamed herself. It was huge lingering issue she and Joker tried to avoid everytime they met, until she just avoided him altogeher.

She could relate to Thane's son, who was seeing his father die one day at a time... she had tried to remove those sad thoughts and memories from her mind when the reaper war started, but she had just felt a sympathetic connection to this drell. Everybody was going to lose a lot of beloved ones, whole families would be destroyed in this conflict, fighting for the survival of the species was the only hope they were going to have against the Reapers. It was impossible to save everyone.

"Alright, I will trust you, Thane, so why did you want to talk to me? I would really like to ask you a few questions myself."

"Like I just said, in the months ahead, Shepard will need the support of all his allies and friends . I have prayed to Amkira, Lord of Hunters, that he stays on track for his mission. But this is not a mission a single hunter can take on, he will need others like him. He will need allies like you, Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams. And the Citadel is not as safe as it looks".

Ashley could not believe this drell seemed to know so much about Shepard's current mission. It was true, Shepard was just one man, and human, while many other Council races were acting solely motivated by their particular interests right now, out of fear. Still, he had not fully explained why he had joined Shepard years earlier, what was Cerberus connection to Shepard at the time, or if he had suspected... She dismissed these thoughts. Williams had been trying to cope with his official death for two years, and then his reappearance made her very confused; the whole Cerberus connection, whatever that relation had been, was eating her from the inside. While she had spent days in bed, she had realized she had got out of line on Mars, she was addressing a reinstated superior officer, after all. If Anderson trusted him, she had to trust him as well. But there were so many unanswered questions... And Shepard had always been reluctant to give details as to what transpired in those 'dark' years.

All of a sudden, Ashley's wristband communicator started blinking and emitted a short, sharp noise . This wristband was not Alliance issue, it was given to all Spectres assigned to the Citadel security taskforce work in emergency situations, there was no way she could ignore the call, despite all what she wanted to ask Thane.

"Williams here." Ashley took her left wristband closer to her voice, it had a small voice recognition system which allowed her to answer the comm line as soon as there was an emergency.

"We are trying to reach all Spectres present in the Citadel. We have an emergency code Level Red 1". Ashley's Eyes went wide open. The first thought was this could be some kind of drill, but then she realized that due to the declared state of war in Council space and due to the relatively small number of Spectres currently assigned to the Citadel and not on assignments elsewhere, there was no way they could be having a drill at a time like this. Not when using a code reserved for a hostile action and a direct threat to Council members.

Williams voice went all serious and confident, she had no choice but to ignore Thane's presence at this time, this had to be a really serious call "Instructions?"

"Williams, you have been assigned to the Council security detachment. You must contact Tenora, she is the senior operative who was working Council security at this time, you should coordinate with her and any C-Sec personnel assigned to this task. Where are you?"

"I'm in Huerta Memorial training facilities, I'll get my shield generator and my weapon"

"You do that, we need..." The communications broke off for a few seconds, then came back, but the voice was distorted and interrupted with crackling sounds "... Presidium Tower, head for the R.V. ... escort to evac...". She knew the evacuation security protocol she had to follow, so all the instruction details were not important right now.

Thane's usually calm and unexpressive face was starting to look concerned, he stood up, as if he was intently listening to Ashley's communications, but there was something else, he was listening to their surroundings...

Ashley's serious face morphed into a greatly surprised one when she heard the first shots. They were not coming from afar. Then she realized Thane had heard them before she did, probably had better honed senses, or maybe it was innate to the drell, there was just no time to figure it out. Her Special operations proficiency training on all weapons, Alliance and non-Alliance, allowed her to recognize the hammering percussion of a M-96 Mattock heavy rifle in the distance... a Cerberus weapon.

"Those shots are coming from one of the hospital wings!" Ashley cried out loud, she needed to alert and get everyone moving. There was military personnel and maybe some C-Sec agents in the training facilities. Even if they were lightly armed, the most sound strategy was to try to organize a small, improvised task force and get the wounded and hospital staff to safety, somewhere close to where they were."All military and security personnel, get your weapons and gear, join me in locker room 6". That meant rushing to the rooms, she could only hope some of them had brought their equipment.

Thane had been calm all this time, listening, thinking, probably assessing dozens of possible actions.

She was in a much more emotional state, with a glimpse of unavoidable fear. "Thane, we could use your help, I need to get you a weapon." To her surprise, Thane just took a blade from a hidden folding in his clothing. The material it was made of was something Williams had never seen before. "How did you...?"

Thane answered in his usual calm voice "I smuggled this weapon for protection". Obviously, it was not the time to ask him any further, he had managed to pass a weapon through the ports undetected, all she cared is that it could help. He ran to the locker rooms with Ashley and the others. There were a few humans, not all in fighting condition. There were a couple turians who looked like they could be in security, an asari who seemed like they may have had some military training, but there was just not enough time to ask for their service records. Ash got to her locker, opened it, all the while hearing more gun and rifle shots, including standard issue C-Sec weapons, there was some kind of fighting going on, but there was no way to know the number of hostiles. While she took off the sweaty Navy t-shirt, she came to the conclusion that a Level Red 1 alert would only be called if the opposition had managed, somehow, to acquire a clear strategic advantage over Citadel security forces. It would be impossible to attack the citadel with a fleet without previously engaging in space combat; the citadel arms would have been closed in a situation like that, and there had been no Citadel arms movements, those would have been felt despite the mass effect fields around the wards. An enemy insertion could have created pockets where they could literally destroy all unalarmed defense forces in order to take control of key areas. Too many variables, but it seemed a likely scenario.

She got her blue Spectre vest on, she attached the shield generator around her waist... She was aware this gear was far from ideal for combat against well trained and equipped enemy units. She had a reliable Carnifex pistol, and now they all had to work as a team even . She was a Spectre, and they were going to look up to her, for leadership and to stay alive.

More shots, people crying, shouts for mercy, then mostly silence or screams coming from other directions. It took less than 5 minutes to get ready, then the improvised group got ready to come out. They told the rehabilitation patients to stay there. Thane had remained next to the door to the locker room, kneeling down, just listening. The others had rejoined them after getting their gear, mostly simple Predator guns and one Phalanx, but no armor.

"They are getting closer, Williams. As much as I hate to say this, we can't take everybody with us, the chances are we will be shot at in minutes. If we bring the civilians and the wounded, they will be massacred."

Some of the people were starting to look scared "Those bastards..." said the asari security officer. "I can' believe C-Sec hasn't contacted us. Did you hear anything from Commander Bailey? Or from Captain Ianna Mao?". Her human colleague shook his head.

Ashley frowned, she obviously felt the same disdain and contempt for the organization, but in a position of command she had to keep it cool "I agree, we must first open a path to get out of this hospital wing, figure out a way to get out of here. There's barely any cover, we are mostly surrounded by civilian bystanders, some might be used as hostages or as human shields. By my calculations we are probably outnumbered and outgunned in Huerta. If we can clear a path, they could follow us when it's safe. As soon as we get out, I must reach the Council. The instructions are clear, they are in immediate danger "

Thane seemed to approve her appraisal of the situation "Yes, but we don't know if the access to the Presidium or the Wards is under hostile control. I think you have all recognized the weapons we heard as Cerberus gear. We must assume they have taken control of the elevators, but perhaps not all emergency exits or some shafts."

"There are certain tunnels for rapid transit only accessible by high clearance personnel. They are an alternative route in case of power shutdowns or when an enemy force has taken control of the Citadel." Added Williams.

"What are we going to do?" Said one of the wounded, a salarian who had had one of his legs amputated.

Ashley's expression was serious, and getting more worried by the minute, but she didn't let it affect her commanding voice "Thane is right, you will stay here, don't make any noises. Detach the glass from the mirrors an carefully cut them into smaller pieces, they could help you as improvised knives if you get the jump on them. But remain hidden and in cover, do not attack unless they find you"

One of the turians, a male with his head heavily covered in bandages said "You are right, we will hide here for the moment and will use anything we have here until you tell us there is a way out" One of the C-Sec agents, a human, gave him his short-range communicator. "Keep this, we will be in touch."

Ashley looked at Thane, the way a soldier would look at another soldier who was going to face the same life or death scenario. "What is next?"

Thane stood up, walked over to Williams and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, while looking directly at her brown eyes "Now, Lieutenant Commander, 'you' become a huntress".

* * *

**Next chapter: Lockdown**


	3. Chapter 3 Lockdown

**SPECTRES AND ASSASSINS**

**CHAPTER 3: Lockdown**

**-Chapter Introduction-**

The Cerberus coup in the Citadel was a carefully planned operation which required a long time to have all its pieces in place. In-game datapads revealed that Cerberus weaponry, explosives and operatives with special implants were smuggled into the Citadel. The attack was not initiated with a heavy Cerberus fleet docking with the Citadel. The infiltrated operatives and mechs were deployed in critical areas, which allowed them to control and gain the upper hand in very precise sections of the Citadel without having to deal with the full strength of C-Sec and its defense forces. Agents and collaborators were put in key locations at the right times and acted from the inside to facilitate the attack.

The full Cerberus infiltration procedures and objectives of this plan were never completely explained in Mass Effect 3. Their plan was to kill the Councillors and it is obvious they managed to place sleeper agents and collaborators in C-Sec and benefit from Udina's insights into the emergency evacuation procedures. Prior to reading this chapter, it would be recommendable to watch or replay the Priority Citadel II on one of the many YouTube videos, although it is not required to understand this chapter. Complete in-game details were respected and reviewed to make this fic as close to the game canon and the players' experiences as possible.

* * *

**-Email from Sgt. Uriah Shaw to Captain Ianna Mao-**

_I brought up #177504 from Evidence so you can see for yourself. We caught the slag who was assembling it in one of the Tower 110's bathrooms. He got it past the detectors in pieces- metal barrel in a hollowed-out omni-tool, eezo in one of those Cision toothbrushes. The rest was plastic or ceramic. No gang ink on him, he was in a sport coat manufactured- he's got a record that dates back to when his medcard was issued, and before that, nothing._

_This is way beyond coincidence. This is a pro assassin, a and he's not alone. We've got people smuggling Talons all over the station. Patrol knows it. Organized Crime knows it, everybody knows it. But when you try to talk to the Major, you hit a steel wall. Where's the Internal Affairs when you need them? Why can't we get them to open an investigation on customs? You would NOT get away with this blind-eye business if this were L.A. or Hong Kong_

_The Major says he's not going to screw over good police because of one nut with a pistol. But it isn't just one. Ask the Executor this - if this is the stuff we're catching, what's slipping by?_

-Shaw.

Mass Effect 3 (2012) by Bioware. Datapad found during Priority: Citadel II/ Cerberus Coup.

* * *

**- Sergeant Uriah Shaw. C-Sec Security Headquarters-**

It seemed just like another typical day in C-Sec Main Headquarters. Sergeant Shaw had had his plate full since the investigation on 'undesirables' getting into the citadel started several weeks earlier, Commander Bailey and Captain Ianna Mao had become very invested in this scandalous investigation, since most of these crooks caught smuggling weapons and explosives were humans and they just made them all look bad.

Ever since the Battle of the Citadel, the multicultural station had been re-populated with an increasing number of humans, due to the serious losses C-Sec and the council races suffered during the attack. Not everybody was happy about this, and often Commander Bailey had come under heavy scrutiny from alien politicians and lobby leaders for allegedly not holding everybody to the same standards.

Many humans with a background in aw enforcement in Alliance planets applied for the vacant positions. Turians and asari used to represent approximately 70% of the whole C-Sec task force, while humans salarians and other Council allied races made up the other 30%. After the enormous casualties among C-Sec forces, humans had nearly reached the asari and turian numbers in C-Sec, had several vessels deployed with the Destiny Ascension fleet as part of the station permanent security and, above all, had become a full-fledged council race. Shaw had heard there was even a second human Spectre now, which made him feel proud. At the same time, it made him remember those days where he watched Spectres on action vids and dreamed with becoming one. Reality was quite different from the movies.

"Herk, I am tired of this bull. I have Commander Bailey on my a** everyday, you are filing your reports with so many flaws, you're missing out on details that are standard reporting procedure on the Citadel. There are a few reports he has been expecting for days. Also, he's said he'll kick your ass from one end of the Citadel to another if you don't get it together before the time of his annual report."

"Easy, boss. I know a few of those case files are late, and I'm still working on my style, but I have these huge load of reports on smuggled M-358 Talon guns, plus that hitman with a forged ID caught in Tower 11. Bailey and Mao just gave me all these computer files, evidence pictures and security cameras footage and I'm trying to make sense of it all". Herk was relatively new in C-Sec. He had come from Earth, where he used to work in New York Police Department, he did for 15 years. Everything seemed more complicated in the Citadel, so much red tape for every single case he had to file... He had clashed with the often hot-headed Bailey. Even if he respected the man, he was really nitpicky with his work at times, he had the impression he was particularly gruff with him. His colleagues, like officer Eddie Lang, often told him he was like that with every new agent from Earth, because he expected the best from the guys coming from his own homeworld. Most C-Sec agents, or constables, as they were officially called, even the non-humans, had mostly good things to say about the recently appointed commander. He knew when to crack the whip and when to let things go, although in his case there was plenty of whipping and very little disciplinary mercy.

"Didn't we ask the Executor permission to have Internal Affairs involved in the issue? I'm pretty sure these guys we tracked and nailed weren't doing all this by their own means, they were hiding a large number of weapon parts. And how did they smuggle explosives past the chem-scans?"

"Yes, but there has been some delays. It seems like our beloved Councilor Udina wants to keep it all on the down low, have mostly human agents working on the issue, so it doesn't explode as a P.R. bomb under his watch. Those aliens don't really like us having so many humans in C-Sec."

"Well, if at least we had more humans, or agents, working on these cases... There really seems to be a connection, but our probing of the major mercenary organizations have given us us no results. All is quiet in that front. this isn't the Blue Suns trying to muscle up in their sectors in the wards "

"You do what you have to do, Herk. But just respect deadlines and follow the C-Sec case-filing style".

"Alright sergeant." Herk sighed and got back to work. It was going to be one of those days.

Agent Tyler came in with a handcuffed suspect. Tyler was one of the new human agents, hired straight from Benning militia. C-Sec had always given priority to applications from candidates with prior military experience. The numbers had increased from the 200.000 man force before Saren's attack. But now, even some men with dishonorable discharges in their backgrounds were being considered, whereas in the past, this would have been grounds to blacklist prospective applicants. The reason for this change proposed by Udina was that C-Sec could no longer be considered a simple 'police force', there were too many threats out there. The station's security had been tightened after 2183; they were seeking experienced specialists to replace all the casualties, with military training and not rent-a-cops who just aspired to get a 'comfie' patrol position in the presidium. Some people, like Shaw, was not very fond of some of the new recruits brought in. Tyler was one of those, he was not highly recommended by his superiors from Benning, but he knew how to shoot with automatic weapons and precision rifles, so the disciplinary flaws were disregarded.

"I brought one of these troublemakers who has been causing problems in Zakeera Ward lately. He was caught with a false ID and there is no record of his Citadel entry date". Said Tyler, with an uninterested, unemotional voice. They had had quite a few of those, they were mostly being kept in cells in several C-Sec detentions centers.

"Ok, just process him like the others". He noticed the man they had just brought in had some kind of implants on one of his eyes, and was wearing a hoodie over his head. Also he looked like he had not seen the sun in years "Looks like this guy could spend a month or two enjoying the sun in Illium's Azure summer resort". He took a sip from his coffee, if C-Sec HQ dark and barely flavored coffee could be considered such. Said Uriah, while he got back to filling out the reports his superiors had listed on the C-Sec Intranet.

A deafening noise got Uriah Shaw out of his lethargic reading mode, as he lifted his eyes from his computer screen, he saw Herk's body go limb, as his head was splattered with blood and with hole in it... In a split second, Shaw just had enough time to switch his view to Tyler, wielding a gun, and that hideous man he had brought for processing, who also had a gun, a Talon, in his hand. He was not handcuffed. Before he had time to react, the thin man took aim and shot Uriah in his right shoulder, the high velocity projectiles penetrating his unshielded and unarmored body, pushing him backwards and off his chair.

"Son of a b***h!", his mug crashed on the crystalline, bright floor, the coffee spilt all over him. Mixed with the dark liquid, the red of his blood gushing violently from deep lacerations in his shoulder, his flesh and C-Sec uniform fabric mangled in a grotesque way by the impact of the powerful M-358 . A Cerberus gun. He knew he was done for. While Tyler continued shooting in other directions, the strange, pale man walked towards him. He never said a word, Shaw tried to reach for his own gun, but the shock and disabling pain just did not let him do much. The strange man looked at him with horrifying, electric-like blue eyes. They had no iris coloration, just a strange, bright blue light coming from them. He lifted his hand and pointed the gun.

Fortunately for sergeant Uriah Shaw, his death was quick.

* * *

**-Ashley Williams-**

Fighting in an urban setting was a horrible experience. There was not a clear distinction between enemy combatants and civilians. More often than not, the realization of whom you had been shooting at only came as the corpses were found. Sometimes, there really was not a clear difference between civilians and enemy combatants, just as the turians had concluded during the Siege of Shanxi, when the local populations also took arms to defend their homes. There was no communication with Alliance command after the turians had destroyed the orbitals and blocked any attempt of transmitting their sit rep to their allies. General Williams had weighed the chances of survival for both military personnel and civilians under his responsibility in a prolonged siege scenario, against an honorable acceptance of a defeat and the safeguarding of dozens of thousands lives. He chose the latter, not to save his own hide, but to seek the greater good, the one that would see to it that most people would see the end of the war, however it ended. He understood that throwing thousands of soldiers to their deaths for a lost cause while also condemning the populations of the major urban centers to lose everything, to an estimated 75-80% casualty ratio was NOT the honorable and sensible course of action.

General Williams surrendered the garrison, surrendered the militias, he ordered all civilian groups to depose their weapons so that the turians would not take retaliation attacks or other punitive actions against prisoners of war. They did not really know much about the turian culture yet, but they would later understand they truthfully kept their promises, whether in a time of war, or in a time of peace.

History judgements on General Williams' decision were bipolar. Some historians tried to have his name exonerated, since he picked the lesser evil and saved countless lives. Other pundits smeared his memory accusing him of cowardice, of not fighting till the last man was standing on that damned planet, covered in human and turian blood. What Ashley could fiercely affirm is that the people who did not die on that planet, they all proudly went to see him off when the Alliance removed him from command and took him to Elysium in chains. No colonel, lieutenant commander, major, captain, lieutenant, ensign or NCO who actually shot a bullet or was shot at by the turians on Shanxi ever spoke ill of him or condemned any of his actions after the liberation. But Alliance Admiralty tried to put him out of sight, as the walking reminder of a military defeat to an alien force.

There was a lot of General Williams in her father's blood. For what it was worth, Ash's father used to repeat again and again there was a lot of General Williams in her too. The events that would follow were going to put this assertion to test.

Lieutenant Commander Williams moved swiftly and stealthily down the treacherous and now scarily silent hallways in Huerta Memorial rehabilitation wing. Stealth and "light feet" was the only form of defense they had at the time. The corridors had no cover, most of them had no shields, and nobody had real body armor. He was leading a group of seven others, four off-duty C-Sec officers, 1 turian infantry soldier, an alliance soldier who looked like he had never shot anyone, and a mysterious drell assassin she was trusting more out of desperation rather than by conviction.

Nobody said a word. Williams led the group, at times allowing Thane to take the lead. They just did not trust the others to be as efficient in military tactics or in just moving carefully enough to avoid detection. Ashley hit a corner. She saw an asari copse, probably a nurse, she had bled profusely. She was unarmed. She just had a data pad, probably was taken down while rushing from one pavilion to another while taking care of patients. And now she was dead, she had been killed while simply doing her job, trying to preserve lives. These brave staff was doing their best to keep everybody alive, no nurse or doctor was giving preference to their people, they were an example of how hopeless this war was going to be if they did not work together and stopped looking out just for the survival of their own species.

Ashley's gut told her there wasn't enough blood on the floor to consider that whoever had shot her, had done it a long time ago, in the first wave of the shootings. The shooter might be close. She peeked around the corner, while kneeling down, she never made herself a target as she tried to absorb all the information with one quick glance.

Thane saw Ashley raise one of her hands. A fist. Everybody stopped. One would say that the human private next to him, his name was Richards, literally stopped breathing when he saw the that fisted hand. The L.C. showed the index and middle fingers, two hostiles. If they just came around the corner, they would find themselves with only an empty 4 wheeled stretcher as cover in that hallway.

Private Richards did not have 'killer eyes', in Thane's opinion. Thane had seen many men's facial expression changed by the war or a life of violence, after taking a life for the first time. It looked like this private had not seen much action yet, or maybe had been assigned to a ship for most of his time in the service. The turian veteran though, it seemed like he was quite experienced and did not have any visible serious injury.

They were not all bunched up near the corner, two of the C-Sec agents had remained in the rearguard 20-25 meters behind Ash and Thane. If a firefight broke out in the front and they were overwhelmed, they would also be in the line of fire if they were not careful. That is why the four men in the middle were specifically told by the lieutenant commander not to step into the middle of the hallway during a firefight. They were relatively spread out while keeping in visual contact of everyone else most of the time, but there was not a lot of room for a loose formation. Nor was room for error.

Around the corner, Ashley had spotted two tall men in heavy white Cerberus armor, like the armor Cerberus teams were wearing in the Mars archives. They seemed to have Mattock rifles, the Alliance had recovered a lot of Cerberus gear in recent operations as well as from the Normandy SR-2 when Shepard turned it in to the Alliance.

"Open the door and we'll spare your lives!" Shouted one of the Cerberus henchmen.

To call them soldiers or troopers was an offense to any person who had ever worn an uniform honorably. These were sadistic terrorists, as she had witnessed in Mars Archives and the trail of death they left behind. They were wearing horrible cybernetic implants under those helmets, she did not even know if they could be considered simple brainwashed humans anymore. If they had to be judged by their brutality, the answer would have been a 'no'. She preferred not to think again about what kind of surgery Shepard may have gone through while his body was under Cerberus custody.

"They won't open the lock, bring those two prisoners!" A third Cerberus agent appeared, holding his weapon against a salarian scientist's back, there was a young asari physician next to the other hostage. "You, salarian. You work here, open this door right now and we won't shoot all these fools when we get it open". Their voices sounded terrifying behind those breathers.

They were all standing before the room door, with its red panel indicating it was locked. _Storage room_ 12 read on the wall, next to it. No doubt a group of people had managed to hide and lock the door when the shooting started, but they had been found but this Cerberus team.

Ashley showed another finger in her right fist, indicating there were 3 hostiles now. The corner where Ashley's group had stopped forked in two directions. They could try to avoid this group, they were distracted and they could move in a different direction without attracting their attention. Staying there just increased the chances of detection if those men started walking around, looking for an alternative entrance to that storage room, they would find them in the hallways. The fire would attract other terrorist teams.

The Cerberus operative who seemed to be in charge of that squad, aimed at the salarian forehead. "Open the door, or we'll blow it with explosives and kill you all". The salarian stood there stoically, he did not say a word. The thug caressed the trigger with his right index finger.

Williams understood that if she fired, her whole team would be in trouble in a matter of seconds. She signaled to the other corner, which also offered a visual on the scene. Thane, with a borrowed Phalanx gun, quickly moved to that position, undetected. Now he shared the same visual as Williams.

"I won't help you, I'll never ..." the high-pitched voice of the salarian was interrupted by the thundering hammer-like shot to his forehead. He fell to the floor, dead on the spot. Williams' stomach almost came out in disgust... The terrorist put a booted foot on the salarian corpse and aimed at the young asari physicist.

Williams looked at Thane. Thane nodded sideways, he was as upset as she was, but he was not so eager to intervene. The easier choice would be to take that fork to the right, and keep avoiding Cerberus men. There would not be any guarantee they would not be found or shot at by another patrol. They did not really know how many enemies they were facing. Here, they were risking to bring all Cerberus hostiles on top of them just by firing one shot. At the same time, a few shots could really save a number of lives right then and there.

Ashley Williams made a decision. There would be deaths, either way. There had been many too many deaths already, she was sure Cerberus was slaughtering innocents everywhere in the station, she could not save them all...

But she could save these. The silent cocking the Carnifex gun and how she held it over her right shoulder was the signal to everyone they were going to intervene. A quick look at the turian soldier, a scarred veteran wielding a Predator pistol and the young private, they all looked her in the eye reassuringly.

Thane observed Ashley Williams, he did not say a word, but he was as conflicted inside as she probably was. Taking the lives of these murderers did not present him an inner ethical debate, they deserved to pay for their crimes. He was sure Kolyat would have understood. He was worried because of how vulnerable they would be if they opened fire, and what would happen to the other people they had had to leave behind, in the locker rooms, if they were all killed. Everybody would probably die, unless Cerberus had some other uses for their prisoners. They did not know how many more Cerberus agents were in the hospital. At the same time, it became evident they could not hide forever, all the exists would probably be under watch by the attackers.

The young asari was trembling, she was shedding tears but silently. She undoubtedly knew the murdered salarian well, they were co-workers, maybe had been good friends, tending to seriously wounded soldiers shoulder by shoulder. These losses meant even more people would die when the Citadel suffered the scarcity of doctors, especially at a time of an all-out war.

The Cerberus agent aimed the Mattock, bellow her belly. "Are you going to open it or do you want a new hole in your body?" The asari did not reply, she just kept sobbing and crying, almost accepting her fate, her death for the possibility of saving the lives of all the people who had managed to hide behind that door. She would not help these terrorists

Ashley Williams was heartbroken for the bravery of this young person. She pointed her gun at the man, she was slightly to her left. Thane read her signs and body language, took aim at the terrorist right behind the asari, who seemed like he could be ready to shoot less than a second after they opened fire. The other Cerberus operative, also wearing white heavy armor was trying to figure out a way to open the door. Private Richards and the turian looked ready to roll out of cover and shoot the third man.

Williams pulled her left hand up high, indicating 3 seconds. the she lowered the left hand, helped herself to hold her weapon steadily, she couldn't miss. She counted to three...

The M-6 Carnifex gun had been the object of a great advertising campaign, with promo vids featruing a krogan warlord charging against a slender looking salarian, '_Don't you wish Carnifex was at your side?_'. Fortunately for the battle-hardened marine, Cerberus armor was not krogan armor and they did not have the rough, sturdy hide over their heads for extra protection. Ashley's two shots hit the target, whose head was just not there anymore. Thane dropped the hostile on the right, who was the next most obvious threat, before the turian and Richards dropped to crouches next to Thane and Williams and shot 3 or 4 times, the first hits impacted the third Cerberus henchman in the chest and stomach, made him stagger. Those impacts had probably been stopped to an extent by the armor, but the following impacts from their combined fire took him down as he growled something in pain. He went down, face first against the floor, a few drops of blood came out from his helmet as its face mask open upon impact. The asari never moved an inch, she probably thought she was dead the moment she heard the first shot, she probably thought it was she who had been shot. When they approached her, she could not move, she could not speak, but Thane walked to the door and talked to the people inside.

"We have killed these 3 hostiles, more will come. Please, take the asari doctor and shut the door behind you, we have to move out." After they confirmed who they were through some small windows in the wall, the door opened, they took the asari in, she was in shock. Ashley caught the young blue alien eyes fixated on her, with an incredulous but grateful expression. That asari would never forget Ashley Williams' face, and how a human had saved her life. In the dimly lighted storage room, Ashley caught a glimpse of several wounded patients, a couple of children, who may have been visiting wounded relatives, maybe their parents. They locked the door, they were in no shape to offer help to repel the attackers.

"We're going to have hostiles inbound in seconds, everybody move. Let's avoid the corridor these three came from". They doubled back to the other corridor, took the side hallway they could have taken if they had left those people behind, Ash told herself _I don't regret a thing_. The truth was that the humane thing to was not always the most sensible thing to do from an operational point of view. As they marched forward, at a slightly faster pace but by staying pressed against the walls to offer a smaller target. They did not have to wait a long time before their good deed caught up to them.

* * *

**- Spectre Agent Tenora. Earth Councilor Office -**

The alarms had gone off in Udina's personal terminal, and less than a minute later, a couple of C-Sec agents and an asari Spectre had come to his office on level 31st. He had also heard explosions and shootings coming from the outside, since his office had an ample balcony allowing to admire the beautiful landscape that centered the different Embassy sections in the Presidium upper levels.

Udina knew exactly how the evacuation protocol worked. In case of an attack against the Citadel just like the one occurred years earlier, led by Saren with his geth horde, the first step indicated that 'principals' would be escorted to a rendezvous point with the other VIP's to be extracted and then, together, they would all be taken to a shuttle or small size frigate for evacuation.

The Destiny Ascension was no longer considered the safest choice for evacuation or council protection, since it had become apparent that it could just be disabled by the combined fire of reaper enhanced vessels. In case of attack against the Citadel, it was safer if the Council was directly taken out of the Widow system. A turian frigate with a similar stealth device as the Normandy albeit more limited, was part of the Citadel defense fleet.

"Councilor Udina, the citadel is under attack. The Presidium and the embassies have been targeted by a terrorist group and we are doing our best to contain the threat. We are going to escort you all to evac point Alpha."

Tenora was an experienced asari Spectre. In the moment of the attack she was one of the senior Spectres assigned to Citadel security, a post that was rotational depending on different factors. There were always Spectres in the Citadel, they helped to coordinate operations on the field and sometimes as direct liaisons with Council members when reports were sent by fellow operatives outside Council space. Spectres did not have a clear hierarchy, but part of their work could not be successful without a degree of collaboration and coordination from their Citadel offices. For example, the Spectres had gather Intel from a number of sources in different systems about how the Quarians had acquired war equipment and how pilgrims had also been recalled from their travels to join the Flotilla, all the reports had helped to strategically analyze and provide the Council and all the Spectres with a quite accurate estimation of their naval power, in case they unexpectedly showed hostile actions. There had been no more news.

After Jondum Bau and some other experienced Spectres had been sent by Udina to fulfill certain tasks in the Shryke Abyssal, the Apien Crest and the Hades Gamma cluster, a smaller than usual complement of Spectres had remained in the Citadel. One of them was the recently appointed human female, whom Tenora did not know very well. Her colleagues had told the long-serving Spectre that Williams was more than just eye-candy and her appointment had nothing to do with her good looks or that silly rumor that she might have been good friends with Udina. On the contrary, she had been told that Williams and Udina had clashed in the past, with Williams expressing a rather negative opinion about politicians in general and Udina in particular. She had to admit she did not like Udina's demeanor very much either, but she was there to protect Udina the 'councilor', not Udina the ' arrogant socialite'.

Udina was relaxed, self-controlled, but he could not help himself from making one of his untimely comments. "I hope this is not one of those silly drills you enjoy so much, Tenora" he said, while calmly leaving his comfortable chair and walking towards the small bodyguard detail. The other Councilors would also have a small, fast deployment detachment assigned to them by now, and they would be efficiently escorted to the meeting point. Timing and speed was of the essence, but the Spectres' communication lines were mostly scrambled, so were C-Sec communication channels. Tenora had to contain herself when her two C-Sec agents had told her there was nothing coming from C-Sec HQ, the different priority channels were all dead, as if they did not even exist. Not even static or noises. Nothing. It was not these two agents' fault, and it was all indicative of the seriousness of the threat.

Most people had been evacuated from the Human embassies wing on levels 30, 31 and 32, as far as they could see. Udina noticed Commander Bailey's office had been vacated as well, there were just a few C-Sec agents, mostly turians and humans, distributing weapons and planning where to set defensive positions. This section had not been attacked yet, but most monitors were off, and it seemed like everybody was suffering a communication blackout. There was no way to contact other Citadel wards.

"This way, we have an emergency elevator."

"I know the evacuation protocols, Spectre" said Udina, dismissively.

Leaving Udina's office, one could turn right, to an apparently corner without exists. There, the balcony opened up through a control panel and it was possible to deploy a mobile platform to go to the lower level, but the public elevators on that side would just be as locked as the ones in their current floor. They were obviously going to use other means to reach the meeting point. Tenora opened the Spectres office opposite to the Earth councilor's workplace. It was officially identified as 'Spectre Outpost NSH-80. Recent visitors to this outpost had included Commander Shepard, who would sometimes work from here.

"Tenora. Asari. Spectre status recognized" said the artificial voice as she led the small group into the Spectres office, or "outpost, past a series of screens on the left and a shooting gallery on their right. There was another panel ahead of the group, but at first sight, there was no exit. Tenora punched a few numbers, the machine scanned her retina, and the floor started moving. There was a partition that was easily overlooked by the untrained eye. This part of the floor, with even a few seats on the left, it all went down a level, to give them access to a tram. Since these was an emergency tram line, it was only used in especial situations.

Spectre offices like this one were strategically distributed across the Citadel. There was at least one in each of the major embassy sections, usually very close to each one of the councilor's offices. These offices did not always have Spectres inside, but they all had a special transportation system that connected them all, and also led to RV point Alpha. These small trams, with barely enough room for 5 or 6 people, had their own emergency power supply. In case of a disabling attack, Spectres could have access to an effective transportation system within the Citadel that hostile forces could never control. These Spectres offices had computers and exclusive comm lines with C-Sec HQ, but at the time, there was no way to communicate with them. Bailey had left to try to resolve the problem from there and coordinate an armed response against the attack, but it would be hard to predict how long would it take.

The two C-Sec agents, a human and a turian, Udina, and the asari Spectre all walked into the elevator. Tenora did not say a word, she was all business at this time, so were the security men. At least Udina was not mumbling complaints or goign about his routine of repeating how much more efficient things would be if he had a saying, or more influence, in the choices regarding the new Executor or the promotions after all the casualties suffered in 2183. This time, he was actually behaving like a proper councilor and letting them do their jobs, Tenora had to concede.

The small tram clanked and started moving forward and in a slight descent motion. They were headed for a secure area in the presidium, where they would meet up with Tevos, Valern and Sparatus, as well as their security details.

* * *

**-Ashley Williams-**

As it was foreseeable, Cerberus had reacted to their intervention to save civilians from a sure slaughter. On the other hand, Huerta Memorial did not have enough cover or nor was intricate enough to avoid Cerberus operatives forever, not if they were trying to find a way out. As they had lunged forward, always carefully covering each others' backs, their rear guard had come under attack. Two of the C-Sec officers who were covering the rear of their loose formation were taken out, but they had fought valiantly. The asari C-Sec agent had managed to crash one of the Cerberus mercenaries against the ceiling with her biotics, the helmet or the armor had not stopped the neck from breaking as it violently hit the top of the corridor, only to fall back down to the floor, motionless. At least four other Cerberus were firing from relative safety. One of the infiltrated operatives lobbed a grenade, and despite their desperate attempt to fall back, the shockwave caught them and send them flying, whamming their inert bodies against the walls.

Williams position, leading the group, had also being compromised, as a lone Cerberus henchman had appeared right in front of them. He was probably as startled as they all were when he rounded the corner. Except for Thane, he was not caught off guard. Before the terrorist could shoot, the skilled assassin lashed with his blade at the man's hand holding the weapon. The blade, a micro ... blade, cut through his arm brace, not severing the forearm but making enough damage to his tendons and muscles to disable his weapon hand completely, then Thane shot him in the head and fell unceremoniously to his feet.

They had to move. But moving disorderly would be a recipe for disaster, they laid covering and suppressive fire as Richards and the turian hustled past them "Check the corners, we have to push forward". They still had to offer help to the two other C-sec constables who had previously acted in support of their two first casualties, they were pulling back, slowly, using whatever they could as cover. Every 10-12 meters, there were some metallic structural ribs , arched beams which ran vertically along the walls surface they offered very limited cover. The other C-Sec officers were using them, but they were still a target for a trained marksman with precise weapons, unless Ash and thane managed to keep them in check with.

As they moved in their direction by turns, some high velocity projectiles hit one of them in the back. The other managed to turn the corner from where they were laying suppressive fire. The turian C-Sec officer laid on the floor, he did not move. Corners would sometimes offer protection, but with so many crossings, enemies could appear from all directions. Staying put was unsafe, especially if any of those Cerberus specialists had grenades.

They had no armor, they had no shields, except for Ashley's weak shielding generator that was not designed for heavy combat against an enemy with military issue weaponry. A grenade or a few well-placed Mattock shots would not be stopped by her shields. Thane managed to pick off another Cerberus thug, they heard the cracking of armor plates and one them shouted "We got wounded!"

Aware that they were also vulnerable in the corridors, they threw two smoke grenades to tend their man, and probably before they started advancing once again. Ashley's was running low on ammunition, she could have tried to fire through the smoke, but they had to conserve rounds. "Don't shoot until you have a clear target. Let's keep moving. Richards, pick up this dead man's weapon, he has a grenade too."

Richards and the turian legionnaire were leading the group, while Williams helped the shaken security man. They were five now and there were, at least 3 healthy hostiles were tailing them, much better equipped and with better protections. After a few turns, and while Thane and Ash covered their retreat, they came of a larger hall, full of civilians and medical staff. Presumably, the man Thane had taken down with his blade had come from this room, were he was watching these prisoners, they were all scared but they sighed in relief when they saw Richards Alliance blue shirt and the turian. The problem was that by running into all these civilians, they were putting them in the line of fire as soon as their pursuers reached them

"I'm a Spectre" Said Williams "I need to know how many Cerberus men have you seen when you were brought here"

A scared wounded soldier spoke up "I never saw more than 5 together at any given time, but I knew they had at least two teams when they attacked the hospital... they killed all the security personnel."

This was going to be very helpful, this soldier's observation skills, if there were proven right, would show that Cerberus had had 4 casualties so far, they had at least one wounded man, and they seemed to have spotted three or four other gunmen, their pursuers. Right now, they had one grenade, they had acquired a Mattock rifle but they were still low on ammo. A prolonged firefight, even by using boxes and hospital equipment as cover, would still give them very little options.

"Williams, we should create a diversion here"

"So close to these civilians?" Richards protested

"No, Thane is right. You three will hold here. Move these tables to the hallway, they won't let them get closer, now!" They pushed a few stretchers, wheeled carts and tables to the hallway. The Cerberus had not come after them yet, they probably reassessing and trying to determine if they were at a disadvantage in numbers. They could also be planning to launch their grenades and kill everyone, and they could make a decision in any second. While they were preparing the 'reception' for their guests, Williams went to talk to the scared hostages again. It made more sense now, the hospital was a low priority, weakly defended section, they would not be expecting heavy resistance when they planned this operation, so two teams with approximately 5 men each would have been enough.

"I need some with good knowledge of the hospital layout"

"I know this part of the hospital very well", maybe I can help you to find a way to attack them from behind." said one of the doctors. Her name was Revin, and she was one of the hospital specialists in medical treatments for hanar patients.

"Ok, I want everybody as far from that hallways as possible. Doc, you'll come with Thane and me."

The wounded soldier spoke again "I can hold a rifle, let me help these people". He had half his head covered in bandages, but he seemed ready enough to shoot the enemy as soon as they reinitiated their push. It could get ugly very fast, so the lieutenant commander did not waste a minute.

"Alright, keep your head down, they have Mattock rifles and presumably a few more grenades. Turian, you are in charge of this position now."

Doctor Revin led Thane and Ashley Williams past a locked door, then turned a few corners carefully and started to march in a direction that put them directly on a path to surround and hopefully surprise the remainder of the Cerberus commandos. She felt really uneasy leaving even more civilians behind, at least they had four people with weapons training protecting them. The only way they could save all these people was to go on the offensive and use the only advantage they had: they knew the hospital better than Cerberus, and now the enemy would probably believe they were making a stand in a fixed defensive position. They had to hurry to catch them off guard.

Despite their still precarious situation, Ashley managed a smirk in Thane's direction "Let's hunt down those bastards."

**Next chapter: Ghosts**

Please, leave a review or a comment if you enjoyed the reading. Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4 Ghosts

**SPECTRES AND ASSASSINS**

**CHAPTER 4: Ghosts**

_All Warfare is based on deception_

Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"

**-Councilor Valern, Presidium -**

If some species were opposed to the unexpected, it would be the Salarians. Their traditional military doctrine dictated conflict had to be finished and wars won before they even started. Among salarian war heroes stood out '_The Silent Step_, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the _Ever Alert_, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts'.

Despite the rigorous training and systematic study of the evacuation processes which had become standard procedure for C-Sec personnel and the persons of interest that had to be extracted, this predicament was unacceptable for a salarian of his stature. The lack of information regarding the threat and all the alarms in so many different levels of the Presidium were something to be very concerned about. No drills of this nature and scope were allowed at a time of war.

It had been more than 12 hours since he had spoken with Commander Shepard on vidcom. Apparently, the Alliance officer had been spending time in the Krogan demilitarized zone sorting out problems, trying to bring the full power of krogan infantry into the conflict, while head-butting with Dalatrass Linron and some members in the STG hierarchy. Too many variables, too many unknown quantities. Still, he could not keep a small smile from forming in his thin salarian, almost inexistent lips when he thought about it. He did not like Linron very much, he would have enjoyed seeing someone standing up to her and getting her infuriated over matters of which she had no control. Despite their allegiance, Shepard would do well to be wary of her, nonetheless.

Councilor Valern had been in contact with the Executor via a secure channel for days. It seemed like Councilor Udina was up to his neck in dirt, so it seemed logical that the Chief of C-Sec had summoned him to offer extra protection during the crisis. Their headquarters were one of the safest and most defensible positions in the Presidium.

His security detachment was formed by three Citadel security agents, no Spectre accompanied them. In the most recent weeks, a smaller than usual group of Spectres had been assigned to the Citadel. Udina himself had insisted a series of operation had be conducted against the Reapers and several rogue factions in the Terminus Systems and in the Attican Traverse. Valern decided to break the tense silence, his nervous nature getting the better of him:

"Why are we going through this area, aren't we too exposed?"- His voice came out more highly-pitched than he intended.

"Sir, our path through has been re-routed, we will follow an alternative plan and we will get support from the Executor's bodyguards. Then we will resume the standard evacuation protocol" said the human officer.

"How many more men will you have, then?"

"Our detail will have five more agents, and we will proceed to take you to the RV point right away, the other councilors will be there by the time we arrive. Comms are down, and it would be safer to bolster our numbers before we venture the wards for extraction. Executor's orders said Councilor Valern was to be escorted to his office and to have an extra security detail"

"Sgt. Harding, if I may ask, when was the last time you talked to Commander Bailey or the Executor? We tried to contact him and C-Sec central office many times before you came to Councilor Valern's office for evac". Asked one of the turian guards.

"I talked to him in person, he had some of his best men working on these technical difficulties. Some lunatics blew a few communication relays and hacked our systems to make communications more difficult. He seemed optimistic that this would soon be under control"

Valern was accompanied by two turians and this human who seemed to be in charge, all wore blue and black C-Sec standard issue body armor along their M8 Avenger rifles. At a time like this, he would not feel safe even with a full STG platoon by his side; the lack of information and the interdiction of all communications kept them all in the dark.

The hallways and promenades in this part of the Presidium were deserted, they had not run into any other C-Sec patrols or civilians, it seemed like everybody had been evacuated from this level. One could hear shots and explosions in the distance, there was no way to downplay the importance of this attack, even if the agents were all acting calm and conducting themselves with professionalism. Sergeant Harding was a rather new face to Valern, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

The small group came to a stop in front of a secure door leading to C-Sec HQ. The human officer punched a few numbers in a panel, and the red-coloured lock turned green, allowing them access into C-Sec headquarters. Everything was silent, there were not C-Sec staff personnel running from one place to another, delivering reports, there was nobody manning the communication stations, trying to repair them or receive any field reports. C-Sec HQ was disquietingly silent, dead calm.

"By the Spirits, where is everybody?"

The first shot hit one of the turian guards right in the forehead, the man who was standing right on his left. The blood splat his formal councilor vest. Sergeant Harding, the other turian and Valern took cover behind the counters and desks that served as reception for that particular wing in the main headquarters. There was automatic and semiautomatic fire coming from all directions. The remaining turian marksman carefully aimed his weapon and shot two bursts at the upper level, someone shouted, clearly in painful agony.

Despite the reputed marksmanship of his protectors, Valern knew they were cornered and outmaneuvered by a hostile force, and that the only way to escape would be through stealth and wits, not in a stand-up firefight. He pulled one of his sleeves, his omnitool had an advanced cloaking device of salarian design. He distanced himself from the human and the turian while keeping his head low, his blue robes prevented him from moving as fast as he wanted, but he then activated his device. At this point, he stopped caring about the safety of his protectors, he just wanted to save his skin. A blur surrounded the slim figure of the salarian councilor, making him literally invisible as long as he remained static. Even if he moved, only someone paying close attention would see a certain level of visual distortion, revealing his approximate location. When he thought he was safe, he saw a horrendous scene that made him understand how the trap had been set up. In the middle of the firefight, Sgt. Harding turned around and opened fire against the turian. At close range, the mass-accelerated projectiles from his Avenger rifle ripped the turian guard's armor to pieces, sending bloody pieces in Valern's direction. The turian died almost instantly, probably trying to understand, with his last flicker of life, why he had been shot by a brother in arms.

It took all his concentration and training to face difficult scenarios to remain immobile while witnessing how Harding had turned against his own comrade, and killed him without a glimpse of remorse or pity.

"This is Harding. Code Kappa-5. I repeat Kappa-5" When he cried out loud this message, actively trying to have their attackers to cease fire, Valern understood the degree of betrayal this coup had reached, they had had help from the inside all along.

"Acknowledged, Kappa-5" Responded another voice, metallic through the air filters of Cerberus helmets.

"Everybody watch the exits, the salarian is in this room, but he has activated some kind of device!"

One of the Cerberus leaders, wearing a scary visor, a hi-tech black Cerberus armor and carrying a blade as main weapon, approached the traitor, visibly upset.

"Are you telling me you lost him?"

"We got him right here, cornered. Then he vanished, like a ghost".

* * *

**-Ashley Williams-**

Thanks to Dr. Revin, Ashley and Thane advanced efficiently through mostly empty rooms in the rehabilitation wing of the Huerta Memorial. The layout was not complicated, which meant they had to be extremely careful when going around corners, there was almost no cover in the hallways, so they advanced silently to get the jump on any potential hostile units. Also, they were perfectly aware they had to hurry up to surprise the Cerberus terrorist with an attack from behind while the others protected the civilians.

"They took most of the conscious patients to that room, but there are people in comma or heavily sedated who require our constant attention… if we can't tend to them soon…". Said Dr. Revin, her medical instincts of protecting the welfare of those under her care had not waned despite the horrors of the Cerberus attack.

"Doc, I promise you, we'll finish them off as soon as possible so that you can all return to your work. Now we have to tread carefully, they may have set up booby traps or left someone behind watching their backs." Williams voice was husky, and showed signs of fatigue.

Ashley could not stop thinking about the men who had died in the first skirmish with Cerberus agents. Although they were fighting in a very adverse scenario, due to their inferiority in weaponry and defensive gear, it was question of time before Cerberus decimated their ranks. This was not a mission where she could actually hope to keep everybody alive. She had been leading men into combat long enough as NCO and later as Operations Chief to understand that their losses, even if she did not know their names, would haunt her forever, just like the names of all the 212 casualties on Eden Prime. Good leaders tended to blame themselves for these losses, even when unavoidable, but would not let these emotions to shake their resolve in the middle of combat.

She had had to learn these lessons the hard way in the fight against the Geth, with the loss of a great friend like Lieutenant Alenko, and some other excellent soldiers during her time as Operations Chief...and when she lost, or thought she had lost, Shepard to the Collectors surprise attack.

All of a sudden, a stray of bullets hit the wall behind them, the doctor ducked and Thane instinctively protected her with his body as he also went down. Ashley lunged forward, landing right behind a desk which she could use for cover. The shots had been fired from a weapon sounding very different from a Mattock, she could swear, but there was no way to know where they had come from, not at this time. Thane moved the doctor to the relative safety of the doorway they had just crossed. Despite advancing very carefully, any Cerberus sentry with a good vantage position would spot them. It was then that they heard fire coming from behind, where they had left a few men defending the recently liberated hostages. It was a fight against time now, since they could not be sure if they would be able to hold them long enough for them to backstab the remainder of the Cerberus thugs deployed in this area.

"Thane, I need eyes to spot where the fire is coming from". Whispered the Lieutenant Commander "I'm going to push this chair to the next desk, see if the shooter exposed himself".

Ash shot several light bulbs over their position to mask their movements to an extent. That took a few rounds, and she still remembered they did not have too many thermal clips. She only had two spare ones in her belt.

With the reduced light, Williams exchanged looks with the drell, and then pushed one of the wheeled chairs behind the desk to her right. The ruse worked perfectly, several shots were fired in the dark, which allowed Thane to spot where the rifle fire came from:

"It came from your 10. One shooter" The semiautomatic fire Ash heard allowed her to recognize the M-21 Raptor... the smart sniper was not using laser sights to avoid easy detection, it also meant if they were alive it was because the Cerberus sharpshooter had probably shot at them without careful aim, caught by surprise by their presence in this part of the hospital. Also, this could mean they were facing a single enemy with a weapon that was not conceived for short range combat but, given the current scenario, would be equally lethal if they were careless. Williams knew the Raptor was a hybrid between an assault rifle and a precision sniper weapon, with semiautomatic fire. The only chance to take the shooter out probably was to fire from two different positions at the same time, and hope that whoever was chosen as target, was not hit in the process, which was a rather slim probability.

"Thane, we have to flush him out of cover, or make sure he exposes himself." Whispered Ashley.

"I'll create a distraction; keep your attention on the shooter's position". With these words, Thane lowered his face, stepped forward and became one with the shadows. Ashley Williams could not determine whether her eyes were fooling her, if exhaustion was playing games with her mind, but the drell had literally vanished from her sight. It was dark after shooting down the lights, but the assassin seemed to have used some kind of trick. She got ready facing the direction the early shots had come from. A few seconds later, someone opened fire from the right, against the area where the enemy shooter had seemingly fired from. The very moment their opponent opened fire against Thane, who had used some trick to move stealthily away from Ashley and Dr. Revin, Ashley came up from behind the desk and fired in the direction of the brief, intermittent lights of the Cerberus weapon barrel as it was discharged against the decoy. Two, three rounds of her Carnifex and a groan full of pain came from the other side of the room, followed by a heavy thud against the floor. From the corner of her eye, she noticed how Thane moved with an unmatched speed, over tables and gurneys, she tried to follow him, covering the ground between them and the downed enemy to make sure it did not pose a threat any longer.

She could hear a vague, feeble moaning. When Ash reached Thane, he was lumbering over the dying female human whose ghastly cybernetic augmentation implants could not hide the fact that they were looking at a relatively young woman. A heavily altered human being. The faceplate had fallen off her face, it probably broke after her head had hit the ground. Her intense, irregular breathing indicated she was asphyxiating after the wounds probably punctured one her lungs. As anonymous as the Cerberus operatives they had been fighting seemed behind those strange helmets and faceplates, they looked very human once the masks were off, in a very disconcerting way. Ashley Williams could only feel sadness for the dying person at her feet. She did not know if this young woman had entered Cerberus of her own accord, if she had been 'transformed' somehow through these horrifying devices or if she had joined them convinced she could make a difference in the galaxy, despite their unethical agenda. Once again she wondered if Shepard had been altered like this, maybe without leaving evident cybernetic implants on his face, if some kind of control chip had affected his way of thinking somehow. How could have they brought him to their fold, otherwise? How had he survived the Collectors attack and the destruction of the Normandy SR-1? What had happened to him in those 2 years?

As the young woman exhaled, she almost half expected Thane's to show some kind of grief, but the seriousness of their situation and how many more people's lives depended on their resolve brought her attention back to their current predicament. Some strands of her black hair had got loose at some point, they got stuck to her face, wet in sweat. She pulled them to the side then addressed the drell in a grave tone.

"Double-time to the hostiles position". They had to stop Cerberus before they got the upper hand and killed everyone.

"Right behind you" was the laconic answer the drell gave. He never exteriorized any feelings, but Thane understood there was no way violence and death would stop being a part of his life, wherever he went.

* * *

**-Senior Spectre Agent Tenora, Citadel Wards -**

"C-Sec will lead a counter-offensive to try to regain control of HQ".

Tenora said, but out of a professional omitted a 'pray the Goddess'. Whether she was an asari of faith or not, she preferred not to let her worries or insecurities transpire in either the tone of her voice or her choice of words. The other security agents, probably less experienced than she was, needed their confidence reinforced by the way she conducted herself at a time of crisis. The Terminus systems, the outer Council Space, the Attican Traverse... she had been deployed hazardous planets with hostile fauna, she had assassinated heavily protected targets, sabotaged criminal mercenary operations in the far edges of the Milky Way. This mission was not more dangerous that others she had already faced.

"C-Sec... They should have known better, it should have never come down to this..." murmured Udina.

Tenora did not bother to reply. She did not hold Udina in high regard, but everybody was edgy and she did not want to distract herself with petty bickering. The elevator descended several levels and took them to one of the wards. Afyer a few minutes, it came to a sudden halt with a metallic clunk sound and a hiss. The secure elevator had taken them to an exclusive access to ward, where they would rendezvous with the other Councilors and then proceed to the landing pad for evacuation.

They approached the door decidedly but with their weapons at the ready. Tenora punched some numbers , and the large door had its different parts retract to the doorway's frame. They were in the wards and, according to her omnitool, just a few minutes away from RV. in the distance, they could hear the ruckus, the crying of voices, accented with the inflections and resonance of hundred different voices, from many races, all of them sounded horrified, begging for mercy or dying. It was chaos. To their right, they could see the corpse of a salarian civilian. Several wounds in the abdominal area had gutted the torso of the ill-fated civilian. There was death everywhere, the smell and gunfire spoke volumes of the unraveling tragedy, but the only response was the silence of those who would not speak ever again.

To the left, they could see a few corpses piled up, they were all bleeding gushingly, but they did not seem to have gunshot wounds. There was no time to stop and try to assist them, they were already dead and so they would if they did not hurry. The asari pointed her right hand towards one of the corners, right ahead. The other C-Sec agent checked the corner they were leaving behind, just as the door closed behind them. It had an access panel outside, so the Spectre took mental note that this could be a good retreat option if they found themselves blocked by an insurmountable hostile force.

Tenora took point, and then they took turns to advance using corners, columns, cars and anything they found along the way. Whenever they could, they took the higher ground by means of balconies and overlooks to advance while avoiding being ambushed by snipers and shooters from the upper levels. There were very few back alleys that helped them stay on course; they carefully followed the nav points from the omnitool while hiding as much as possible .

They could hear they were getting closer to shootings, as the firefights became louder but never came in sight. Too calm for her taste, it was almost like they were going through a safety corridor that allowed them to escort Udina unopposed while people died in the levels above and below them. A lucky break? She did not believe in such things. She could hear the rapid thrum of M-8 Avenger rifles, which signified that the hostiles were meeting with some resistance in the form of C-Sec Security forces. Whether they were being succesful or violently crushed by the terrorists, there was no way to know for sure at this time.

Her omnitool said they were getting very close to the RV point, the other councilors had to be just two modules away from where they were. Suddenly, a strange noise caught her attention, almost like a computerized voice coming through a malfunctioning microphone, she spun around, checked all her surroundings just in time to see a blur approaching one of the men. Before she could warn him, the blur became an arm, a sword wielding arm. The ghostly shape had used the sharp weapon to stab the more exposed area neck of the man who was covering their rear. The C-Sec agent had not been able to even voice surprise, the monomolecular blade had caused mortal damage to his spine, esophagus and arteries in one quick, accurate skewering thrust. The man was dead, instantly.

With a quickness that came from centuries of a martial life as an Asari commando and as a Spectre, Tenora aimed her Paladin M-77 pistol at the sneaky operative and discharged it twice, before anyone else reacted to the attack, but their foe had vanished. The surviving C-Sec agent shot his Avenger, but missed his target completely... they could not see the enemy, but they could hear him... they could hear the breathing system, barely, but they could not pin point where the feeble, almost inaudible noise was coming from.

Suddenly, the enemy materialized out of the blue a few meters to her left, and shot her with the palm of the hand. An accurate burst of energy impacted her Spectre armor shields and drained them completely, a second disrupting shot came just as she had managed to create a defensive barrier. This all happened in less than 5 seconds, her human colleague shots barely grazed the agile and smallish frame of their attacker, who seemed eager to take her out next. The powerful impact of the phase disruptor on her barrier had made her lost balance and fall on her back as she was trying to distance herself from the blade. The Asari used a paralysis biotic power just when the phantom was closing in, that seemed to stagger him. They didn't waste any time, they both shot their weapons at the enemy, whose body contorted with the impacts of both shooters, and then the blood stained the floor and the strange hi-tech vest their enemy was wearing. A chilling scream, female-like, came as the Cerberus agent collapsed on the floor... bleeding profusely. Tenora put another high caliber round in the lying corpse, just to be sure.

"What the hell was that?" Said the nervous turian - This thing killed Landon!- He was terrified about what they had just seen, an invisible enemy who could hide and attack with a devastating arsenal. "Is this thing human? Who is attacking us?". It was rare to see a rattled turian.

"No time for Q & A, officer. We have to move, faster. Councilor, it's safe now, come out".

Udina had quickly hid himself behind a corner when the spectral figure had first materialized before their disbelieving eyes. He started to show signs of preoccupation and fear, while up to that moment he had behaved as if all the security precautions had been a nuisance. Tenora could tell he was not used to the gruesome and bloody realities of combat, this was nothing like those epic vids civilians were used to. There was nothing heroic in the way their colleague had died, there was nothing heroic in the way they had taken down their foe.

"We are almost there, we have to stick together and cover our backs in a close formation. Calm down, and let's move out before the shots attract more Cerberus operatives".

"I will forward your name for a medal, Spectre"

The asari did not care about medals or commendations; she was a Spectre and had a job to do. She would protect Councilor Udina's life, whatever it took.

* * *

**-Ashley Williams, Huerta Memorial -**

The fight was over, faster than she could have imagined. Thane and the Lt. Commander had caught the Cerberus operatives flat-footed, as they were distracted by the opposition ahead. The combined fire of their weapons and their lack of cover on their six had done the rest. Their inert bodies still looked threatening in their bulky Cerberus armor, but this just seemed to be a small force concentrated on Huerta Memorial. The real threat was still out there. They took a few moments to rearm themselves with whatever weapons and ammunition magazines they could recover from the fallen operatives and allies.

After checking on the status of the other combatants and the hospital staff and patients, they stepped aside to discuss their next move.

"Thane, we have to get going. There's no way to know the real scale of this attack, but if they could spare these agents just for the hospital…" Ashley made a pause, she was lost in her thoughts for two seconds, looked down while she recovered her breath. She was exhausted and wondered if her body and mind could take the stress and exhaustion of combat so soon. Finally, she looked up and spoke again.

"I have to get to the Councilors. We can leave a token defensive force here, and take some able men with us".

"Agreed. We should try to avoid the main elevators to the Presidium and the wards, Cerberus probably has them under control and would detect any movement. Any alternative routes you were instructed to use in emergency situations?"

"Yes, the Keepers tunnels. I don't know them very well, but I am familiar with the one connecting to the wards location where we would have to take the councilors for evac. It's near the Shalmar Plaza area., and that would be a possible route to approach C-Sec HQ indirectly, as well. I need to get to Udina and the other councilors".

"But you don't know if they are still alive. For all we know, they could have been killed in the first wave. C-Sec Headquarters could be a rally point for C-Sec forces in case of attack, I think we should make a run for it, it is one of the most defensible spots in the Citadel. Maybe get a message through, somehow".

"I know, Thane. But we both know we are not the kind of people who would stay away from enemy fire for too long. I swore an oath when I became a Spectre. Until they are confirmed KIA, I have my orders and I must follow them. But I won't ask you to come with me, your plan also makes sense."

"I understand, Williams. Let's re-arm the men, once we get out of the hospital we will part ways. If one of us manages to reach his objective, we may still avert the complete disaster. I know why Shepard spoke highly of you, you have fought like a true huntress, you have my respects".

Ashley Williams did not know what to answer to that. Many things had crossed her mind in the heat of combat, including Shepard. She was very grateful to this stranger, she doubted they would have saved so many lives without his skills and combat proficiency. At the same time, she also hated the idea of dividing the small force they had, but regardless of their decisions, they did not have the man power to spearhead a counter-offensive against Cerberus. They had several Mattock rifles and a few other military grade Cerberus weapons, but they lacked the numbers. Particularly if she was right in assuming the size of the task force sent to Huerta Memorial was just a small percentage of the full strength Cerberus was likely employing for more critical areas. Thane had noticed her fatigue, so he walked towards the men who were infighting condition.

"Let's move, everybody. We have no time to spare. Lt. Commander, please show us the way to the tunnel access".

* * *

**Next Chapter: Tunnel Rats**


End file.
